Abstract:

The number of universities offered through distance learning of these courses, which have been commonly mandatory recently, is increasing every year. Nevertheless, studies that illustrate the opinions of university students about distance learning are in a minority. The purpose of this study is to acquire detailed information about the experiences of university students who have registered in compulsory joint courses through distance learning or who have previously received these courses in the process of distance learning, to learn their ideas on the advantages and disadvantages of distance learning. The participants in the study are 15 university students from three universities. Four open end questions have been used to collect data. Following the face-to-face conversations, the answers to each question were made in a written document and the data was examined according to the content analysis. The results showed that university students generally showed a positive attitude towards learning by distance learning. Students have pointed out that the educational environment and the course study process can be controlled by the student, the positive aspects of remote education; the failure to turn from the teaching element of the course, the lack of communication and interaction, the lack of motivation, the lack of regular follow-up of the courses by the students, and the negative aspects of remote teaching. Students find both the educational dimension and the technical dimension of the distance learning practices equally important. The most frequently expressed suggestion they point out in the direction of development by students in the educational field is that learning becomes interactive by adding to the system multiple environments that will increase both the course’s responsible faculty and students, as well as the students’ interaction and interaction between themselves.

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